


Follow Orders Or Follow My Heart?

by Wizzy



Series: We're A Great Pair (Ouran High School Host Club Love Stories) [3]
Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Coffee, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-04-24 00:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 13,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4897747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wizzy/pseuds/Wizzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You say one thing; the heart says another. Which path do I take? Will the end be the same?</p><p>Rin is very smart and a very respectful girl. Having skipped ahead one year, she's now a high school first year. After an arrangement between her father and the head of the Ootori family, young Rin now assists the Ootori family in any way she is asked. This often results in her acting as Kyoya's assistant during school hours and helping out around the Host Club.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Arrangement

My father had been talking with Mr Ootori for awhile now. Dad owed him a lot of money, and we didn't really have a way of paying it all back.

In my family, it was just me and dad. Mom ran off and abandoned us when I was five. Haven't seen or heard anything about her since. It wasn't that bad though. I'd like to think that mom running off had strengthened the bond between me and dad.

Sorry, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. My name is Rin Sayoki and I'm a high school first year. I usually help out around my father's business, so I don't really have a lot of time for friends. But I don't really mind as long as it's helping dad.

“There must be some way!” my father had been saying. That was when one of Mr Ootori's sons walked in.

As he approached his father's desk where our fathers sat, the boy tripped and his glasses flew off. Acting on instinct, I rushed forward from the corner of the room and caught them before they could hit the floor.

I held them out to the boy. My guess was that he was the youngest, but still at least a year older than me. “I believe these are yours, sir,” I said as respectfully as I could. I looked him over quickly, trying to remember what my father had said about the three Ootori boys. “You seem to have missed a button.” I informed him, nodding towards the shirt he was wearing. As the he looked down at it, he found that I had been right.

“Quite an impressive little assistant you have, Sayoki,” Mr Ootori said to my father. “What did you say her name is?”

“Rin is my daughter, sir. She's a wonderful girl. And very helpful too, sir.”

He thought a moment before speaking again. “Perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement after all...”

My father, seemingly picking up on what he meant, shot a me a concerned look. I put on a fake smile, trying to show that I wasn't worried.

“Kyoya,” Mr Ootori said to the boy standing near me. “Why don't you show Miss Rin around? I'm sure she'd prefer that over listening to two old me talking business.”

After we'd left the room, I had to ask the son the one question I had on my mind. “Mr Ootori?”

“You don't need to be so polite. You can just call me Kyoya,” the boy said with a faked smile. One of those businessy types for sure. No doubt he was only acting this kind because of the business between our fathers.

“Forgive me, Kyoya,” I apologized, bowing slightly. “I was hoping you might be able to tell me what kind of arrangement it is that your father might have in mind.”

“I'm afraid I don't have the slightest idea.”

 

That was how this started. This was how I'd ended up working for the Ootori family. From that point on, I would live with the Ootori family, assisting them in any way they ask of me.

Thanks to their kindness, I would also begin attending Ouran Academy alongside Kyoya, who I would assist during school hours if needed or desired.

The one thing I didn't realize until later was that my life was no longer mine.


	2. First Day At Ouran

Ouran wasn't quite what I'd expected. I'd expected a bunch of those snobby rich kids that you usually saw in movies and on TV. Most of them turned out to be quite friendly. Though I didn't have much time for friends outside of class time.

“This might be better than I thought,” I said to myself as I sat down at my desk in class 1-A.

“Looks like we have transfer student,” a pair of voices said, one coming from each side of me. “This could be fun.”

“Hikaru, Kaoru, don't be bothering her on her first day,” another voice warned. My guess was they were a friend of the other two.

“Where's the fun in that?” the voices of Hikaru and Kaoru said. Stepping around to the front of me, they turned out to be twins.

“I'm Hikaru,” said one, then he pointed to the other. “That's Kaoru.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Rin Sayoki,” I informed them.

“Is it just me or-”

“-does she sound like Kyoya-senpai?”

The name caught my attention. I didn't mention that I knew the person they were talking about.

“I don't think we could handle a second Kyoya,” the third voice said, joining the conversation. “I'm Haruhi.”

“It's nice to meet you,” I said, keeping my more business-like self on the outside. Thinking about it, I wondered how they knew Kyoya. He was a year above them, so it couldn't be from classes. I decided to play stupid and act like I didn't know him. “If I might ask, who is this Kyoya you mentioned?”

“Come to the Host Club later-”

“-we'll introduce you to him.”

Later I had to meet with Kyoya, so I had no time for a Host Club. “Forgive me, but I must meet with someone later today. Therefore I am unable to visit your Host Club.” It wasn't likely that the two were the same Kyoya, and I couldn't risk not showing up. Not with the whole mess with my father. “Perhaps another time.”

“She's a female Kyoya!” The twins repeated their earlier thought, irritating me.

“I'm nothing like that-” I cut myself off, knowing that insulting him could possibly cause more trouble for me and dad. Then I snapped back into business mode. “While he and I may seem similar, we truly are very different.”

“Sounds like you know him,” Haruhi observed. “How do you know you're that different?”

“I don't.”

 

I ended up spending the rest of the day keeping to myself, even going so far as to skip lunch to do my homework, since I figured I may not get to later.

 _Ok, it's time to meet Kyoya,_ I reminded myself.  _Music room 3, I believe he said. Hopefully I don't have to stay too long or dad will-_

I had to stop my thought right there. I'd forgotten that I wouldn't be going home. Because of the arrangement between our fathers, I'd be staying with Kyoya and the rest of his family for awhile. The thought of it made me start to tear up a little.

 _There's no time for this,_ I told myself, forcing the emotions back and going back into business mode.  _I can't be late. Not on the first day._ I rushed off to find the place where I was supposed to meet him.

It didn't take long to find the room.

Calming my nerves, I took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Welcome to the Host Club!”

_Damn it._


	3. Renge And The Host Club

“You're late Rin,” the voice of Kyoya informed me.

“Forgive me Mr Otori,” I said, bowing my head slightly. “It took me longer to find my way than I anticipated.”

“I thought you didn't know Kyoya-senpai,” said a familiar pair of voices.

 _This couldn't possibly get worse,_ I thought to myself. Little did I know, the twins weren't the ones I had to beware of.

“Strictly speaking, we don't really know each other,” Kyoya answered for me. “She is here solely because of an arrangement between her father and mine. To help pay off her father's debt, she is serving as an assistant to the Otori family. Her attendance at Ouran is reliant on this arrangement. Once the debt is paid, she will return to her life as normal.”

“So she's like Haruhi and the Host Club?” the twins asked.

“In the way that she owes money and is working to pay it off. However Haruhi's tasks are limited to the Host Club. Rin also is required to do any task that any of my brothers, my father or myself ask of her.”

After Kyoya had finished explaining the situation to the other Hosts and introducing me to each of them, I met the one person that would more than likely be more trouble than the twins.

 

“Ooh... She's adorable! But she should dress up with the rest of the Host Club!” said the voice of a very energetic girl. Something told me she was borderline psychotic, but I had a feeling that if she was, she wouldn't be her. “Come on Rin! Let's go dress you up!” She grabbed my arm and starting dragging me off to another room.

I looked to Kyoya, silently begging him to stop her. “Have fun Renge,” he said with that business-like smile of his.

 _Someone help me!_ I said silently. The hosts weren't even dressed up today. All of them were wearing their normal school uniforms, so what could Renge possibly dress me up in?

“Renge, I'm not a doll! You can't just dress me up like this!” I protested as she figured out what to put me in.

“Kyoya said to and you have to do what he tells you!” she countered with that crazy grin of hers.

“But the rest of them aren't dressed up!” The argument wasn't a very good one, but it was all I had. She was right about what she'd said about having to do what Kyoya told me.

“You can't work in the Host Club in your school uniform or you just look like one of their guests!” She said, pulling out what she wanted to dress me up in.

 

When Renge was all done dressing me, she took my uniform and ran out of the room. Now I had no choice but to walk around the Host Club like this.

What I'd ended up in was a black skirt that was much shorter than anything I'd ever worn in my life. It went down to about a few inches above my knees, but that was too short for my tastes. The shirt she'd chosen wasn't much better. It was just a plain, white button-up shirt with short sleeves. However, the buttons didn't go all the way up to the collar ask you'd expect. The only went up high enough to cover my breasts, though some of my cleavage was still slightly visible. Not to mention it was one of those fitted kinds of shirts that I  _never_  wore.

It was so awful, I wanted to cry. “I did not agree to this!” I whined to myself as I stood in the empty little room, too afraid to go out in front of the others. If you can't tell already, I'm extremely shy about my body.

No matter what I did, nothing made it better.

 

“Kyoya Otori this is not acceptable!” I ranted to him. Luckily, their weren't any guests at the time. My voice made me sound like I was on the verge of tears, and I could hear Haruhi laughing at my spazzy, whiny complaint, but I ignored it. “I don't mind Renge dressing me up, but this is too much! I'll go along with anything you ask, but I did not agree to this! I've never worn anything so... so...”

“Cute?” the twins suggested, but they were way off. By my standards anyway.

“Disgustingly revealing! I will not put up with this!”

After I'd finished my little rant, he did something I hadn't expected. He laughed. Immediately, most of the other hosts were laughing as well.

“It's not funny,” I snapped at them. Then, realizing who I was talking to and remembering why I was here in the first place, I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves. “I may be overreacting a bit, but everyone has their limits.” I turned to face Kyoya before I continued speaking. “Mr Otori, while I am here because of your request, it is not necessary for me to be here.”

He'd stopped laughing at this point and was back to that businessy self personality of his. “If you are that insistent on it, then I will have a word with Renge.” He paused a moment as he made a note in that book of his. “Though I must warn you, if the Host Club dresses in a way that will require you to appear a certain way, you  _will_  have to go along with it despite your personal feelings.” Meaning: if they cosplay and the only corresponding costume is equally as offensive as I felt this one was, I had to go along with it anyway. Whenever they just wore their uniforms, that would be the only time I'd really get my way.

Not exactly a win, but it was at least something.


	4. The Middle Brother

For awhile, things in the Otori home were fairly uneventful. I really didn't mind. In fact, it had been pretty nice. Of everything though, there was one thing that bothered me.

I hadn't seen my father since I'd started staying here over a month ago. We had been all the other had. Until now, the two of us were in our own little world, but we were happy that way. Now, we were far apart.

 _I hope dad's doing alright,_ I thought as I sat on my bed. Lately, I'd been pretty down because of having to be so far from my family. For almost ten years, we'd never really been apart.  _I wish there were some way I could talk to him. But he's always so busy, I couldn't really bother him just say hello._

Hopefully the way I was feeling would go away soon; before anyone had the chance to notice. Emotions are not something I'm good with. The most I've ever done with my emotions was just lock them away in a secret part of my heart and leave them there, never to be let out.

Earlier today I'd claimed I was feeling ill and headed off to my room for the night. If my guess was correct, the Otoris assumed I'd just went to bed. Of course, that wasn't what I'd really done. Feeling sick had just been an excuse not to deal with any of the Otori family for the night.

“Rin?” the voice of the middle brother asked, entering my room and quietly closing my door.

I quickly got my emotions under control, putting a mask over them. He sat down next to me, leaving little space between us. Uncomfortable with him being so close, I shifted over a few inches.

Seeing this, Akito pushed me backwards onto my bed, climbing on top of me. My entire body just froze. I'd never been in this kind of situation before. I'd never even been kissed or even gone on a date.

I had no idea what to do. My breath caught in my chest as he stared down at me. All I could do was watch him as his face got closer to mine. But, just before his lips could touch mine, the sudden sound of the door opening made him stand up instantly. To make it look less suspicious, he'd pulled me up with him.

Lucky for him, it had just been Kyoya and he hadn't seen what his brother had been about to do. Without a word said between the two, Akito left the room. This left me alone with the youngest brother.

I sat quietly on the edge of the bed as he approached me. Silently wondering why he was here, I couldn't help but feel like I didn't really want to know.

“Since I will be out tomorrow, I have requested for you to accompany me as my personal assistant for the day,” he said in his usual emotionless voice. “That is, if you wish to.”

Something seemed off. In all the time I'd spent here so far, no one in the family ever asked if I wanted to do anything, let alone give a choice of not doing something they asked. Kyoya's older sister was the only exception to that.

“Do I really have a choice or is that your way of being polite?”

“See it how you will. That much does not concern me,” he said. Typical Kyoya. Never doing anything without some motive. I wondered what it could possibly be this time. “However, I would advise that you do accompany me, as it will be in both of our best interests.”

I just nodded, figuring it's be much better to agree to what he wanted rather than risk causing any trouble.

_Kyoya Otori, just what little trick do you have up your sleeve?_


	5. Kyoya's Motive

I awakened the next morning by a face I hadn't been expecting to see. It wasn't even someone I wanted to see either.

“Come on Rin!” the excited voice of Renge called to me, followed by her pulling me up out of bed.

 _Why is Renge here? It's not like I'm supposed to be helping the Host Club,_ I complained in my mind. I'd never actually say that out loud though, not with the mess with my father. Better to be safe now rather than be sorry later.

“Come on! Wake up already!”

“I'm up,” I mumbled, trying to keep my eyes open. I'm not a morning person. Coffee doesn't even help either. “Why are you waking me up?”

“You have to get ready! Kyoya's up already,” she informed me. That definitely caught my attention.

 _Since when is Kyoya up early? This is getting more and more suspicious._ The more I thought about it, the more confusing it was. Kyoya  _asking_  me to go somewhere with him rather than  _telling_  me, Renge waking me up, Kyoya actually being up early on his day off, none of that really added up.

“Don't fall asleep on me now.” Renge's voice jolted me awake. Without realizing it, I'd started falling asleep standing up.

 _I'm feel like a dress-up doll with all the times she's done this now,_ I thought as Renge rummaged through my clothes. Lucky for me, she was limited to what was already here, which consisted only of clothing I approved of.

Even so, she still managed to make me feel the same as she always did. Only she could make my own clothing feel so different. But then again, that's Renge for you. Always messing with things that don't really need messed with, but always making things work out better in the end.

After about an hour of “Let's Dress Up Rin,” my time working as Kyoya's personal assistant for the day began.

For the first half of the day, I merely followed him around. It seemed really unnecessary for me to even have been there. All that I really did was do whatever little task he asked, which really wasn't much other than writing down notes in a notebook he'd asked me to carry around for the day.

Only after a few hours of wandering around did I realize we were in my hometown.  _One more suspicious thing to add to the list. Coffee sounds pretty good right now._ Realizing how random that second thought was, I shook my head to try to clear my mind. Though if you've ever tried that, you know it doesn't usually work.

“Is something wrong, Rin?” Kyoya's calm voice brought me back to reality.

“It's nothing, Mr Otori,” I said, debating on whether or not stopping to get coffee would be a good idea. There was a nice little coffee shop nearby that was run by the family of a friend from school. He helped out around there sometimes, so I wondered if I'd see him if I were to stop there. “Though, I was thinking that some coffee would be nice... If you don't mind me stopping there a moment, there's a place not far from here. That is, if you would allow it? It wouldn't cost you anything but maybe a moment of your time.”

“If my data is correct, that would be the same shop that you would visit every day while working your father,” he said, reading from his notebook that I hadn't realized he'd been holding. I just nodded and gave a little smile, hoping he'd allow me this little bit of freedom. “Very well, you may go on ahead. Do try to be quick about it though.”

As I walked on ahead, Kyoya waited patiently. Of course, when I'd asked, I hadn't considered I may owe him for being so kind. It wasn't until I was where I was going that I'd thought of it.

“Hello Rin,” a woman said to me. It took a moment before I'd realized that it was my friend's mother. “It's been awhile, been busy with your father?”

“Not exactly, Mrs Satori. I've been busy with... a job of mine.” Explaining the situation with Kyoya would take much too long, so the simplest way was the best for now. “My father can explain it some other time.”

“Rin!”

A small child jumped on me, almost knocking me over. “Hello Izumiko.”

She smiled up at me the way she always did whenever I stopped by. “Kyo's not here today. He's been sad because you haven't been in school! Why? Don't you like him anymore?”

“I was transferred to Ouran this year, but I still like Kyo as much as ever.” I knelt down so I was eye level with her. “Kyo will always be my friend. I just have been so busy lately. I haven't even had a chance to see dad in awhile.”

We talked just a moment more before I got my coffee. Thinking a moment, I decided to get some for Kyoya as well, which triggered a question from Kyo and Izumiko's mother.

“Are you on a date with someone?”

“No!” I'd probably said it a little too fast. But she just laughed a little and said nothing else. “It's for a friend.”

I wouldn't exactly call him a friend, but that was the best word for the situation. What else could he really be? My boss? Technically he would be, but his father would better fit that. We didn't exactly work together, so that wasn't it.

After joining back up with Kyoya, we wandered about for awhile more before I found myself in a very familiar place. This was the business my father owned. Was this what he'd had in mind the whole time? That might make sense. If he'd noticed I'd been feeling down because of not seeing my father, it would explain things a bit. A happy worker is a good worker.

If seeing my father made me happy, then I'd work a lot better. But then, what was Kyoya getting out of this? Just what was going on in that head of his?


	6. Kyoya Makes His Move

After returning home with Kyoya, I still couldn't figure out what it was that he was getting out of this. No matter what I thought of, none of them could possibly be the reason.

Even over the next few days, I still hadn't figured it out.

 

“Rin?” I heard Kyoya's older sister calling me as I walked down the hallway.

“Yes miss?”

“Rin, I told you that you can call me by my name,” she sighed. “You don't have to be so polite. Anyways... could you...?”

“Rummaging through Kyoya's drawers again?” It may sound weird, but she had a habit of going through his clothes and not being able to put all of them back. She always had some excuse for it, but I never really understood why she would do it, even if she did have a reason.

“I wasn't! I just-”

“I know,” I said calmly, cutting her off. “I'll take care of it.” With a sigh I headed down the hallway and into Kyoya's bedroom.

As it was every other time, it was a mess. Clothes were scattered all over. _He's a guy, how the hell does he have more clothes than I do? Right... rich people... Sometimes these people really irritate me._  I tried pushing those kinds of thoughts out of my head. But as I continued cleaning up, they just kept returning. “This really is a pain...” I mumbled to myself, thinking I was the only one in the room.

“You shouldn't complain when someone allows you such a kind way to repay a debt.” As Kyoya's voice addressed me, I turned around so quickly that I almost lost my balance. However, I immediately turned my back to him after seeing him standing there shirtless.

“I-I didn't know anyone was in here...” I stuttered, slightly embarrassed about the situation. I was merely doing what I would have wanted him to do if he was me and I were him. Sure, my body may be nice by other people's standards, but that didn't mean I wanted anyone to look at it.

“Well, this is my bedroom after all.” His voice was suddenly much closer than it had been just a second ago. Something was wrong with this situation, and I didn't like it one bit. “You're quite a shy one, aren't you?”

Uneasy with how close he sounded, I didn't say anything. That was probably a bad move. He turned me around and grabbed my arms, holding me in place. I tried to look away, but Kyoya wouldn't allow it.

For a moment, I wondered just what thoughts were going through his head. But considering what was going on, I decided I didn't really want to know.

“Wha-” Before I had a chance to even get one word out, his lips crashed into mine.

While I may never have had any time for relationships or really even friendships, that didn't mean I was so naive that I didn't know what was going on. I may be pretty oblivious when it comes to love and crushes, but even I know that if you kiss someone, there is a certain level of attraction that you have for them. Or on occasion there's some other motive behind it. But either way, you don't do it without some sort of reason.

I didn't know how to react, so I simply didn't. I'd never kissed anyone before. Sure, there had been someone I really would have liked to, but there were too many other things in the way of that. Point was, I didn't want to be kissing Kyoya.

One arm wrapped around my waist, holding me in place. The other held onto my wrist, pulling me tight to his chest.

For a moment, I thought about pushing him away. But then the memory of the situation with my father came to mind.  _Mr Otori never mentioned anything about situations like this, so what do I do? If I push Kyoya away, would it cause more trouble? Even worse, do I even have a choice? Guess I'd better go along with it for now._

Next thing I knew, I was laying down on the couch that was just a few feet away with Kyoya hovering over me. Using one hand to hold himself up, his free hand began lifting my shirt, showing a lot more of myself than I'd ever shown in my life.

My heart was racing.  _He wouldn't actually do anything, would he?_ To be honest, I didn't know the answer to that. Now that I thought about it, I barely even knew Kyoya. That thought alone was scary.

All this time, he hadn't said a word. I almost wished he'd say something or that this was just some kind of trick. But he just stared down at me without a word. As I was about to say something, he leaned down to kiss me again.

Just as his lips were about to meet mine again, the door opened. “Kyoya, wh-” His sister's voice stopped abruptly as I figured she saw us. Or more accurately, she saw him and just assumed I was there. “I'll just come back later...”

I heard the door close and Kyoya moved away from me. Still unsure what to do, I just looked at him and slowly started to sit up. He had an annoyed look on his face, but soon it was replaced by that calm face he almost always had. “You may go now, Rin,” he told me in that cold, emotionless voice of his.

After he said that, I couldn't get out of the room fast enough.


	7. A Day At The Beach

“I guess this isn't as bad as I'd thought it would be,” I said, sitting with Haruhi on the beach. I wasn't a very good swimmer, so keeping a bit of distance between me and the ocean was a good idea.

Today the Host Club had come to the beach. I'd hoped that maybe it was just a little vacation for the hosts, but that was too much to hope for. Kyoya had brought along their guests, as well as dragging me along.

I didn't really mind it though. Since I'd been so busy helping out my father, I'd never been to the beach. Not that I could remember anyway. Dad once told me of a time when we had gone to the beach with my mother, but I was too young to really remember.

“I just hope it doesn't end up like last time,” Haruhi said before explaining the events of the last time they had come here. “Some strange guys showed up and were harassing the girls. I tried to help and ended up being thrown off that big rock over there.” He pointed to a cliff-like boulder that stuck out over the ocean.

“If it does, I'm sure Mr Otori can handle it before anything bad happens,” I reassured him. Despite the fact that he scared me a little, I had faith in Kyoya. If something were to happen, Kyoya would take care of it with no problem.

After talking for a moment more, I headed off to check in with our guests. Everything seemed to be going fine, but one of the girls wasn't anywhere in sight. Earlier today I'd made a mental note of everyone who had come with us. What happened to that other girl?

That question was soon answered when I heard a girl's voice shouting at someone near her. I followed the voice and soon found the girl who'd disappeared without the others noticing. With her was a guy maybe a year or two older than me. He held her by her arm, and I suspected this was something similar to what had happened with Haruhi last year.

“Come on, let's have a little fun,” the guy was saying. He pulled her in closer, while she struggled against his grip.

“You're not supposed to be here,” I said in as fierce of a voice as I could. This was almost like what had happened a week ago. The guy was Kyoya, the girl was me, and I was Kyoya's sister coming in at just the right time. It was an identical situation, but I had a feeling this guy wouldn't stop as willing as Kyoya had.

My voice seemed to have gotten his attention. He released the girl, but she just stood there.  _Damn rich people. I swear they are useless._  “Go get Kyoya,” I told her calmly. As she ran off, the guy attempted to follow, but his path was cut off by me.

“You're just askin' for it, ya know,” he said, roughly grabbing me by my left arm.

After a failed attempt to pull my arm away, I tried to punch him with my free hand. But I wasn't any good with fighting or anything, so I was too slow. He caught my wrist before I could hit him. “Let go of me!” I hissed at him. This was turning into a repeat of what had happened with Kyoya. However, this time I wasn't afraid and I  _could_ fight back. But I didn't think I'd have to really fight back; I knew Kyoya would show up in time.

“Feisty. I like it.”

Before he had any chance to say or do anything more, an all too familiar voice interrupted. “She told you to let go.” Standing there was someone I hadn't expected to see.

When the guy still didn't release me, Kyo used force. After it was all over, the guy ran off like mouse being chased by a cat.

“You alright, Rin?” my old friend said, his voice going back to that gentle tone he always used around me.

I almost said I was, but then thought of a better answer. “I can take care of myself you know,” I said, adding a bit of attitude. I started to head back to where the Host Club was, with Kyo at my side.

“Oh really?” he challenged, tackling me to the ground. The two of us were there for what seemed like a long time, with Kyo tickling me and the both of us laughing the entire time.

“Okay, okay! I give!” He stopped as soon as I'd said the words. Giving me a playful smile, he stood up.

I hadn't realized how much I'd missed the sound of his voice until now. Things with the Otori family had kept me so busy, that I didn't even have the chance to notice just how much I'd missed him. Now that he was here, it was the only thing I could think about as he helped me stand back up.

“Rin!” I heard several voices calling out and I spot the members of the Host Club running over to where Kyo and I stood.

“Friends of yours?”

“Somewhat.”

“Rin, care to tell us who this is?” I heard Kyoya's calm voice ask me. After a quick glance about our small crowd, he was easy to spot.

“I'm sorry,” I apologized and gestured to my friend. “This is Kyo Satori, a friend from my former school.” I then turned and introduced the hosts to Kyo. “This is Tamaki Suoh and Haruhi Fujioka. That's Takashi Morinozuka, but we just call him Mori. The one on his shoulders is Mitsukuni Haninozuka, or Honey. And this is Hikaru and Kaoru... no... that's Kaoru, that's Hikaru... wait...” Even after knowing them this long, I still couldn't tell the two apart. “Um... Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin.”

“It's nice to meet all of you. I hope you've been treating my girl well.” As he said “my girl,” he messed up my hair playfully. “Any of you boys lay a hand on her, you're a dead man, got it? Nobody messes with my girl.”

As he went to mess up my hair even further, I grabbed his wrist to stop him. “You know I hate when you do that, Kyo.”

“I believe you left out someone in your little introduction, Rin,” Kyoya pointed out. Thinking about it, he was right.

“I'm sorry Mr Otori!” I apologized quickly, snapping back into my businessy self. “This is Kyoya Otori.”

Kyo laughed at my little mistake. “ _Mr_ Otori, huh? What are you, her boss?” He'd meant it jokingly, but he had no clue just how right he was. His laughter stopped when he saw the serious looks on our faces. “Wait you mean he's actually... How the hell did that happen?”

“Hey Rin!” called the one voice I didn't want to hear right now.

“And here comes Renge.” She ran up to me, linking her arm in mine. “Hey Renge,” I said uneasily. This was awkward enough as it was. Time for her favorite game I guess.

“Come cosplay with me!”

“Time for a game of  _Let's Dress Up Rin,_ ” I whispered to Kyo. I glanced over at Kyoya, silently begging him to save me from Renge. But he never did, especially since it meant it kept Renge from causing any trouble in the Host Club. Today was no different. “See you later, Kyo,” I said, letting Renge drag me off to who knows where.

_How did I ever end up in such a mess? Well, I guess cosplay isn't that bad. Things could always be worse._


	8. Kyoya's Lecture

“What were you thinking?” Kyoya scolded me that night. He'd patiently waited until everyone else had gone off to bed before meeting me in my room. Now here we were, alone. After what had happened the last time we were alone, I'd been a little afraid of him. “You could have gotten hurt! You're not a fighter; you wouldn't stand a chance against him!”

I flinched. He wasn't yelling, but he'd definitely raised his voice a bit. Of course, he was quiet enough to avoid catching the attention of the others. “I had to do something! That girl was even more helpless than I would have been! The least I could do was keep one of the guests from getting hurt!”

“You still shouldn't have been so careless! What if something had happened?” Had that little event with Kyoya not happened, I'd have thought he was concerned about me. But that did happen, so it seemed more like he just didn't want anyone messing with something he wanted all to himself.

“It doesn't matter, Kyo was there to help,” I said, trying to stay calm.

“What if he hadn't been?” I'd notice him glaring at my friend when he'd shown up. The others just laughed and had a good time, but Kyoya almost looked like he hated Kyo. The fact that I'd brought him up now seemed to make the Otori boy even more angry. “Did you ever stop to consider what would happen?” He grabbed me by my shoulders.

I flinched again. He'd been scary before, but he was even more so. But he did have a point. I hadn't even thought about it. “I... I knew that you would get there before anything bad could happen...” My voice was shaking as I spoke. Looking away, I tried not to think about what might have happened if no one had showed up.

“What if I hadn't made in time?”

“I had faith in you, Kyoya,” I said, starting to tear up a little. To be honest, I hadn't really known why. Maybe it was because I was afraid. Or maybe it was something else I hadn't even been aware of. “I never doubted it for even a second...”

His grip on me tightened before he pulled me in. He was quiet as he held me there. I didn't move at all; I just stood there in his arms and let my tears fall. While I hadn't noticed it before, what had happened today really had scared me.

 _Why are you acting like this now? You couldn't be any different than you were before,_ I thought as he gently stroked my hair, waiting for me to calm down.

“It doesn't matter now,” he said comfortingly. “All that matters is that everyone is safe.”

_I don't get it. Why do you act the way you do towards me? Just what is going through your head?_


	9. Renge's Favorite Game

“Oh Rin!” the giggly voice of Renge called out to me. The Host Club wasn't open just yet, which could mean only thing: time for a game of  _Let's Dress Up Rin!_

The boys weren't cosplaying today, meaning Renge could dress me as she wished. Casting a glance back at Kyoya, I let her drag me off to the other room.

However, today was a bit different. The moment we were alone, she threw a bunch of questions at me. “So how long have you and Kyoya been a thing?” She giggled as she asked.

“What? We- I- No!” Her question had caught me off guard. Where had she even gotten THAT idea?

She just giggled and rummaged through some clothes, trying to find what awful thing to put me in. “You like him, you like him!” she sang as she pulled out several different outfits.

“I-it's not like that!” I protested as I looked at the first one she'd chosen. It was the first thing she'd dressed me up in. “Where did you get that idea?”

“Come on! I saw you two getting all cuddly in your room at the beach!” She just kept giggling. It was almost annoying.

“It wasn't like that...” I sighed, deciding to tell her what really happened before she came up with some other crazy idea. “He was lecturing me. I got upset. He comforted me. End of story. No love, no cuddling, nothing.”

“He's quite fond of you though. You sure you you don't like him?” Renge kept asking that question. As far as I knew, I hadn't giving off any signs that I felt anything for him.

“Actually... I... I'm afraid of him...” I quietly admitted, turning my gaze away from her. Renge immediately caught on to the fact that there was something that I wasn't telling her.

“Why? Kyoya's not a bad guy. Sure he's a little mean sometimes, but he's good at heart,” she said, sticking up for him, though I hadn't said anything bad about him. Stepping away from where she'd been digging through clothes, she placed her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye.

“Hey Renge? If I tell you something, can you keep it secret?” She nodded quietly. “Not a word leaves this room, alright?” Nodding again, I told her all about that day with Kyoya. She seemed pretty surprised that he'd do something like that to anyone.

“Who knew Kyoya had such naughty thoughts in his mind?” she said, then suddenly got all happy. “I know just the thing to put on you now!”

 _What has she got in mind this time?_ I thought as she undid the bun I'd put my hair up in and frantically searched for the monstrosity that she would force me into.

 

Despite my earlier fears, Renge had put in something decent. In fact, I think I even liked it. It was an icy blue, sleeveless, knee-length dress. She'd let my hair hang down and merely adding a bow identical to the one she always wore. Altogether, it looked great. It made me look so sweet and innocent, like an angel.

“Wait'll Kyoya sees this! He'll be totally speechless!”

I just laughed at the thought. It almost made me curious to see how he was going to react.

The Host Club had been open for awhile now, so there was already quite a few guests present. As I walked out into the room, I caught the attention of most of the people in the room. Nearly every girl in to room flocked to my side.

“She's just so adorable!”

“Just like a little doll!”

During class it had always been so easy for them to forget that I was a whole year younger than they were. But when Renge dressed me up this time, it made me look younger, giving me that sweet child-like look similar to Honey's appearance. This resulted in the girls fawning over me like I was their little sister. It was a nice change.

Through the crowd, I managed to catch a glimpse of most of the hosts' reactions. Mori didn't seem to show any reaction. Haruhi had the “Eh, that's cute” kind of look on his face. Honey and the twins couldn't be seen, but it wasn't hard to guess their reactions.

Tamaki had reacted as anyone would guess he would. “She's so cute!” he said in that energetic and slightly high pitch voice he used whenever he was excited about even the tiniest thing. He pulled me into a crushing hug, like he often did to poor Haruhi.

“Tamaki!” I protested, squirming in his grip. As I fought against him, I managed to get a look at Kyoya. Renge might have actually been right.

He was watching the scene with a look on his face that I'd never seen on him before. It was almost like he was stunned. Seeing him like that made me wonder what was going through his mind. He wasn't speaking, so he had to have been thinking something, right?

“Told you so.”

_Yeah, you said it Renge. He really does look like he's speechless._


	10. The Brothers Fight

_(Kyoya's POV)_

It's strange how something so small can change the way you see someone. Like the way Rin had started to act more afraid of me after that day in my bedroom.

For me, it was the way she looked at the Host Club just a few days ago. Having spent more time with her than anyone else, it was too easy to forget that she was two years younger than I was. Meaning that age wise she would be a middle school 3rd year while I was an 2nd year in high school. But that day, I saw her in a way I never had before.

She'd looked so sweet and innocent, almost like a child. It was scary in a way. Knowing her and the way her life had been before I'd known her, she'd probably never even had her first kiss. That was something I'd stolen from her.

Stolen? That makes me sound like some sort of criminal. Maybe in a way I was. That would explain why I've felt so guilty for almost doing such things to her. Had my sister not come into the room when she had, would I have stopped myself? I'd like to think I would have, but to be honest, I have no clue. Funny how one could know themselves so little.

“You're just too cute for your own good, you know that?” I could her my older brother's voice coming from further down the hall. Akito normally didn't say things like that, so just who was he talking to? When I didn't hear the other person's response, I headed down the hallway to investigate.

Soon enough, I came upon a sight that I hadn't expected to see. There was little Rin with her back against the wall. Akito was in front of her, his face merely inches away from hers. She seemed scared, like I realized she had been when I'd been that close to her.

I couldn't say for sure why, but seeing my brother doing that to her made me angry. He was a grown man and she was barely in high school. This was wrong on many different levels, not to mention that it was probably illegal.

My anger flared up inside me. Rushing over, I pushed him off of her. “You sick freak!” At that point everything became a blur as I lunged at my brother. Things were said that I paid no attention to. All I knew was that I wanted to hurt him for even thinking of touching her.

I hadn't even paid any attention to Rin; I was too busy trying to make him pay. Until someone stepped between the two of us, I hadn't noticed anything around me.

“Stop it! Both of you!” Rin shouted at us. We both froze instantly. It wasn't like her to raise her voice like that or even get involved in our family's arguments. “This is childish! There is no excuse for you two to be fighting like this!”

I'd never seen her like this before. In a way, it was almost scary that someone who was naturally so calm and gentle could be so... I don't have the words to describe it. “But he-” I started to defend myself, but she wouldn't allow it.

“Don't try to act so noble! You're no better than he is, Kyoya!”

Her words were like a knife straight to my heart. As much as I wanted to believe otherwise, she was right. Rin had even called me by my first name; she never did that, even when I asked her to.

_You're no better than he is, Kyoya!_


	11. I Can't Do This

_(Rin's POV)_

After having separated the two Otori boys and scolding them for their childish fight, I found myself wandering down the hall. That was the only time I'd ever really yelled at anyone. It wasn't like me. Not only that, they were two of the sons of the man I was supposed to be working for.

Funny thing was, what I'd said had been right.  _Don't try to act so noble! You're no better than he is, Kyoya!_ Those words echoed in my mind as I'd walked away. Sure, Kyoya had rescued me from Akito, but that didn't really mean anything when Kyoya had tried to do exactly what he had. In a way, despite all their differences, they were the same.

 _I don't think I can handle this,_  I thought as I found myself at the door of Mr Otori's office. Could there possibly some other way to work this out? I certainly hoped so.

“Mr Otori? May we discuss something a moment?” I asked, entering the room. He sat there at his desk, writing something. When I'd asked, he merely nodded and motioned for me to sit in the chair in front of his desk.

“What is it that is bothering you?” I guess it was pretty obvious that I was troubled. Until now, there had just been the one time that there had been any trouble. Until now, it had been so easy to handle.

I just sighed and decided to explain. “I... I can't do this. Isn't there any other way we can work this out?” The reason I was here was to serve as a way to repay my father's debt, but was this the only way?

Mr Otori gave me a confused look. With a sigh, I told him everything. Akito's advances towards me, that day that Kyoya had kissed me, and then what had just happened moments ago. He seemed a bit surprised, likely because his two youngest sons didn't seem like they would do such a thing. But then again, wasn't it normal for young men to do crazy things when a young lady was involved?

When I'd finished explaining, he was quiet a moment. “Your father was quite worried about how the arrangement would effect you when we were working it out,” he told me after thinking it through. “Perhaps the two of us might be able to come to a more suitable way to work this out.”

To be honest, I wasn't sure I wanted to really know what this new arrangement would be. “If I might make one request, Mr Otori?” H merely nodded and I continued. “Whatever agreement we come to, can we not tell Kyoya or Akito?”


	12. Home

Even after to coming to a different agreement with Mr Otori, I was still able to attend Ouran. Personally, I wouldn't have minded leaving. But, with the new arrangement, both Mr Otori and I agreed that it would be in our best interests to keep everything else as it was.

So now I was just like every other student at Ouran. At first it was hard to get used to. I've lost count of how many times I'd forgotten that I didn't have to go to the Host Club, or forgotten that I could actually go back to my own home.

“How was school?” my father's voice asked from the other room as I got home. Every thing seemed to have been completely back to normal. “Your friends are here.”

I froze. Friends? The only people I'd really talked to were the girls who visit the Host Club or in my class. Even then, none of them even knew where I lived. Only Kyoya had ever known that and there was no way in hell would he be here.

“What friends?” I called backed to him. When you say something like that, it always sounds bad. Sure, I did kind of have friends, but we never talked outside of school. Other than Kyo of course. But Kyo was supposed to be helping his mom out today, so that wasn't possible.

“They said they were in some club with you at Ouran.” I hoped this was a joke. Since the new arrangement had been made, I hadn't been to the Host Club at all. None of us had really talked since then.

Walking in the room, I let of a sigh of relief. There were just four of them and they weren't the twins, Kyoya or Tamaki. Though I was still a bit confused as to why these four were here in the first place.

“Hey Rin!” Renge and Honey tackled me with a hug the moment I stepped in the room.

“Hey guys...” I said, surprised to see them. “What are you doing here? And how did you know where I live?”

“It was in Kyo-chan's notebook!” Honey's excited voice said. Even though he was a couple years older than me, I couldn't help but think of him as an adorable little kid. In a way, he reminded me very much of Kyo's little sister Izumiko. “How come you don't come see us anymore? Don't you like us anymore?”

Izumiko had asked me the same thing. It was hard not to feel bad. But there was a reason for not going. Without thinking, I snapped into my businessy mode. “I have my reasons for not visiting the Host Club, let's leave it at that. Whether I still like you or not has nothing to do with it.”

They seemed confused. But when my dad sighed and gave me a disapproving look, I knew that wasn't how I should have answered them. “Rin, that isn't how you talk to your friends,” he scolded me. With a sigh, I forced myself back into a more friendly mode.

“Look, I'd rather not talk about it,” I said, trying to pry Renge off of me. She'd still been hugging me. “You guys are great. Sure, Tamaki and the twins can be a real pain sometimes. And Renge can get a little carried away, but I still love you guys.”

“What about Kyoya?” Renge finally released me. Her question had caught the attention of everyone in the room, especially my father.

I could her him laughing over in his corner of the room. “Who's this Kyoya?”

“She's talking about Kyoya Otori...” I informed my father, who then looked like he was imagining all sorts of things that he assumed happened that definitely would never happen. “And it's not like that at all. I would rather not discuss this.”

“She's been avoiding Kyoya because he likes her and she totally rejected him!” Renge was making half of that up.

“It's not like that!” I protested, but I had a feeling that none of them were going to listen to a word I said.

“So Kyo-chan is upset because she doesn't like him?”

“Rin just doesn't want to admit she likes him.”

“Guys, did you ever think that maybe she likes someone else?”

“Nah, she totally has a thing for Kyoya!”

“Can we please stop talking about this?”

When they just kept discussing my non-existent feelings that I may or may not have regarding Kyoya, I decided I didn't want to hang around. That's when I remembered Kyo was supposed to be at the coffee shop today. Coffee sounded pretty good anyway. I signaled to my father that I was leaving, and he merely nodded.

_Let's visit Kyo and get coffee. I don't know if I can handle these guys much longer. These are even the more calm ones. Well, Mori and Haruhi are. Renge and Honey aren't so much but they're still better than the twins. I'd hate to think what would happen if Tamaki and the twins were here._


	13. Kyoya's Notebook

_I can't believe I overslept..._  Apparently I'd forgotten to set my alarm last night and now I was last for school.

As I rushed through the empty hallway, I noticed something laying on the ground. I stopped a moment and looked it over. It was a notebook. Or, more specifically,  _Kyoya's_ notebook. Having spent so much time around him, I could recognize it easily. Opening it to a random page and recognizing his handwriting, I confirmed it as being Kyoya's.

I couldn't just leave it there; but I didn't like the idea of seeing Kyoya either. There was no reason for me to be afraid of him anymore, but I still was just a little scared. That wasn't the reason I didn't want to see him though.

For now, I just kept it with me until I decided what to do with it.

 

When it came time for the Host Club to open, I'd decided that it was my job to return it to him. Regardless of my feelings, it was what needed to be done.

Along the way, I ran into someone. He was tall with red hair. I'd seen him around here every so often, but I didn't really know who he was. “Sorry about that. Are you alright?” the guy asked.

“I'm alright. It was my fault, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.” Remembering that I didn't know him, I introduced myself. “I'm Rin.”

“I'm Kasanoda,” he told me, before stopping a moment to think. “You wouldn't happen to be the girl Fujioka was talking about the other day, would you? The one who used to help out around the Host Club?”

I was a bit surprised that he would know that. After more words, the two of us ended up at the Host Club.

Placing my hand on the door, I felt a fluttering feeling in my chest. Kyoya would be in there. I hadn't spoken to him since the fight with Akito. And then there was the awkwardness I felt anytime he crossed my mind because of our new arrangement.

Forcing the feelings to the back of my mind, I pushed open the door. As soon as I was in the room, his eyes were on me. I'd practiced in my head what I was going to say, but now my mind was blank.

What could I possibly say to Kyoya when I knew what I knew? Instead of paying off my father's debt, Mr Otori had decided that I would marry one of his sons. He offered me the chance to choose, but I left the decision to him so I wouldn't know until after I'd graduated. Of course, it was obvious who his choice would be.

After all, who had I spent the most time with? Who was closest to my age? Who did I get along with best because of those two things? Who was it that had protected me from his brother, without even giving it much of a thought?

There was no doubt in my mind that Kyoya would more than likely be chosen as my future fiance, and he didn't know anything about it.


	14. A Party?

_(Kyoya's POV)_

Rin was here. I wasn't sure what I should feel. Since the incident with Akito, we hadn't said a word. She'd even been avoiding me; even completely leaving without even so much as a goodbye.

It was my understanding that she and my father had come up with an alternate arrangement. But no matter how many times I ask, the details of this new agreement were denied to me. It make me wonder what it was. Could it have been that he... no. My father was fond of her, but he wasn't the kind of man to do anything shady. So why refuse to tell me?

Remembering where I was, I pushed all my thoughts aside. All eyes were on us as she approached me. My heart was beating faster than I'd ever remembered it had. “May I help you, miss?” I was struggling to keep myself calm like I was supposed to be. I could only hope it didn't show.

Rin appeared to be exactly the same. Why? More that likely it had been because of what happened. “You dropped this in the hallway, Mr Otori.” She held up an all too familiar notebook. I'd been too distracted to even notice it had been missing.

She still refused to call me by my name. It hurt that even now she still couldn't. Still keeping my composure, I took it from her hands. “Thank you Miss Sayoki.” It felt strange calling her that. But when you considered the current circumstances, calling her by her first name didn't seem appropriate anymore.

When she turned and started to walk away, I couldn't stop myself. “Rin!” I rushed forward and grabbed her hand. Realizing what I'd just done and where I was, I almost let go immediately. However, I didn't want to listen to what my head was telling me to do. What I wanted to do more than anything right now was hold her and tell her how I felt.

She just stared at me with that unemotional face she often used when she was nervous or upset.  _It's now or never..._ Acting on impulse was something I didn't usually do, but in that moment, I didn't care. I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tight.

 

_(Rin's POV)_

My entire body froze. This wasn't like Kyoya. “K-Kyoya? W-what are you doing?” My voice was shaky, for many reasons. His grip on me tightened.

“I'm sorry... I'm so sorry Rin...” His voice sounded so broken, it almost made me want to forgive him. But then again, what exactly was he saying he was sorry for? Sorry he taken my first kiss and almost took much more than that? Sorry for making me help out the Host Club and forcing me to wear such awful cosplay? Or was he sorry that he'd ever met me? Sorry that he'd bothered to rescue me from Akito? Just what are you sorry for, Kyoya Otori?

Forcing my body to start moving again, I pushed him away and said the only words I could manage to say. “It's too late for sorry.”

I left him standing there with everyone staring. As soon as I reached the door, I was stopped by Renge. Despite my protests, I was forced to stay at the Host Club. However, I avoided Kyoya and any questions I was asked about the subject.

As I sat with Honey and Mori, I overhead some girls talking with Tamaki. “Is it true that you'll be playing piano at the party?” Party? This was the first I was really hearing about it.

“Why yes my princess.” Typical Tamaki. I let out a small laugh.

“Will you be singing at the party as well? Some girls were saying that you might.” Tamaki singing? Hard to imagine. Could he even sing?

“If my princess wishes it.”

“Rin?” Honey's voice called me back to the conversation in front of me.

“Are you going to the Host Club's party too?”

“Everyone's going to be there.”

“Even all the boys will be there too.”

“Please Rin?” Honey asking me to go made me want to say I would. But there was one problem: Kyoya. I didn't want to see him, but how could I possibly say no to that adorable blonde boy?

“Only for you,” I said with a smile and ruffling his hair.


	15. Rin's Feelings About Kyoya

“Renge... Is it really necessary for all of you to come along with me?” As much as I liked them, they could be a bit intrusive when it came to my personal life. Right now, they were trying to help me find a dress for the party.

“No, but we all wanted to help you pick one out!” Renge said excitedly as she dragged me around. To be honest, I didn't know why they were all here. Renge being here made sense. Haruhi and Honey being here didn't make sense though. They were  _boys,_ what would they know about dresses. Mori being with us made sense, but only because Honey was here.

For the next two hours, each of them found several different ones for my to try on. For the first time in awhile, Renge was playing her favorite game. Only this time, it was all of us instead of just me and her.

After awhile they all wandered off to get food, leaving me and Renge alone. “I think you were a bit hard on Kyoya,” she said as soon as the boys were out of earshot. Should have seen this coming.

“There's more than you know about, Renge,” I sighed. No doubt she was going to poke her nose into places it doesn't belong. I'd been avoiding thinking about him and what had happened at the Host Club.

“Here's a cute one,” Renge said, pulling out a lemon colored dress. It was cute, but yellow's not really my color. I shook my head and she put it back. “He looked so crushed.”

“Renge, I don't really feel like that about him. And I am not wearing a dress that short.” I pointed at the black one she'd just pulled out. It looked short and based on everything I'd looked at so far, the dresses were always shorter on me than they were when they weren't on anything.

“Why not though?” It took a minute to realize she meant Kyoya and not the short dress comment. “He really does care about you.”

I let out a sigh. “Don't you remember what I said before?” She pulled out a purple one with bows on it. “Nice dress, awful color.” This was like have two conversations at once.

“I get that you're scared of him, but come on... That was awhile ago and nothing's happened since then. Why can't you just give him a chance?”

She had a point. Kyoya did apologize to me. “I... I don't know... Well... he did protect me from Akito...” I mumbled a bit. As much as I hated it, there really wasn't a real reason not to give him a chance. Meaning Renge was right. Ugh... I never thought that would happen in my lifetime.

“Who's Akito?”

“Kyoya's brother. He... he tried to do the same things Kyoya did. But the one time he'd gotten close enough to actually do it, Kyoya stopped him.” It was weird talking about this. Thinking about all of this like this was making me doubt myself.  _Damn you Renge._

“See? He really does care about you... Ah! This is it!” Renge said excited as she pulled out a dark blue dress. I had to say, that had been the best thing we'd found all day.

As I tried it on, because Renge insisted, I found a strange thought going through my head. Despite everything I'd just said about not feeling anything for Kyoya, I'd never doubted my feelings any more than I did after I had just that one thought.  _I wonder what Kyoya will think of this._

 

_(Tamaki's POV)_

“Do you have it ready, Tokiko?” I asked the dark haired girl, trying to be quiet. Kyoya wasn't supposed to know about this, so I had to be very sneaky. Personally, I'd like to consider myself as stealthy as the mightiest ninja.

Tokiko held up a couple sheets of paper. “Of course. It wasn't easy, but I got it done for you.”

Taking the papers out of her hands, I read through them. I had to actively stop myself from getting excited. “They're perfect!”


	16. Will You Dance With Me?

Even after all the time I'd spent with Host Club, I still wasn't used to being in such a crowd of people. I doubt that anyone in the high school didn't come. It wasn't hard to feel very out of place.

As he had said he would, Tamaki played the piano a bit. I noted that he hadn't done any singing yet. Perhaps he was waiting for a certain time. For now, he was wandering around among the guests.

Everyone seemed to be happily chatting with their friends. Seeing that made me remember that in this crowd, I really didn't have friends. No... that wasn't quite true. Haruhi was my friend, but he was nowhere in sight.

There was Honey who was like a brother to me, though I wasn't sure if I should consider him like a little brother or a big brother since he was older than me but acted younger. It was a funny thought. But like Haruhi, I couldn't see him through the crowd. When I'd first gotten here though, he'd greeted me with a hug, so I was content.

Renge really was my friend too, considering everything. Despite being a bit of a pain at first, she'd really grown on me. She would always find a way to mess with things that had nothing to do with her, but in the end she'd helped much more than I realized at the time.

Unlike the others, I spotted her talking with Tamaki. That was strange for her, but then again it would make sense. This was the Host Club's party and technically she was part of the Host Club. She stopped a moment to wave to me and the continued her discussion with the Host King.

With Renge, there was one thing I wasn't too thrilled about: she always made me think of Kyoya. There were many reasons why that was bothersome. The most important one at this moment was the result of the last time we'd talk about him. Since then, I'd been wondering if maybe I'd been a little to hard on him.  _Would it really have been that bad to- No, I won't even think about that right now._

My conflicted thoughts on how I felt about Kyoya were interrupted by someone tapping on my shoulder. I turned around to find the same red haired boy that I'd run into a couple weeks ago. Since then, we'd talk a few times. “Hey Kasanoda,” I said with a smile. It was nice to see someone I knew.

At that point, Tamaki had started playing again. This time however, he began to sing as well.

_Come here and stand by me baby_

_Close enough to reach out and pull you still closer_

_All that is swelling within me_

_Must be a language I've never spoken til there was you_

_I fumble, try but I stumble_

_Over all that my heart wants to say now_

As the song played, the two of us talked. About halfway through, Kasanoda asked a question. “Uh Rin? Would you like to dance?” I hesitated. No one had ever asked me that. To be honest, I wasn't sure I really knew how to dance. Noticing my confusion, he added something else. “I was hoping I could dance with Fujioka, but it would be too weird for him to dance with a guy so I thought...”

Accepting his offer, I soon found myself in the middle of the room. Being a quick learner, I turned out to be much better than I'd originally thought.

_Je n'ai pas de mots_

_Nothing seems to say the way you move me_

_Rushing through me_

_Je n'ai pas de mots_

_But a promise has been made_

_You can believe this_

_From the first kiss_

_It's good that I don't have to speak to know that it's real_

_Je n'ai pas de mots_

As the song ended, Kasanoda turned me away from him and gave me a light push. When I turned around to ask why, he'd disappeared. Glancing about, I noticed everyone else had stopped and formed a big circle; a circle that I was currently in the middle of. I turned around to try to figure what was going on and found myself face to face with someone I'd hoped I could avoid.

Standing there in the middle of the tight circle was Kyoya Otori.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in 'Je N'Ai Pas De Mots' by Vic Mignogna.


	17. Hello Beautiful

Kyoya just stood there. He almost looked as confused as I was. Then I realized why this was happening.  _Tamaki... you and your crazy ideas..._  No doubt this was some crazy scheme the Host Club had come up with. Thought the fact that they managed to keep a secret from the one person who usually knew just about everything was almost a miracle. Or just pure luck.

Glancing about, it was very clear that there was no way out of this one. Only now did I notice how quiet it was. But if you think about it, everyone was watching to see what would happen.

No doubt that almost every single one of them had heard about how I had “rejected” him. Though that wasn't entirely accurate. It wasn't like he was confessing his love anything like that, so I was merely rejecting his apology for the things that had happened between us. He didn't feel that way, right?

Seeing that nothing was happening, Tamaki had Mori give Kyoya a little push. What were they trying to do? As if to help this along, the music started to play again. I hadn't even realized it had stopped. After a moment, Tamaki began his singing again.

_Hello my beautiful,_

_It seems I just can't stay away_

After a quick glare at the blonde Host Club king, Kyoya extended his hand to me. He didn't speak, but in this situation there wasn't much else he could possibly mean.

_It's been so very long_

_That I've felt anything this strong_

When I didn't move, I felt someone's hands on my back. If I had to guess, it was likely Renge. This impatient person gave me a push just a bit too hard. I stumbled and fell forward onto the boy standing right in front of me.

_Hold my heart the way you did an hour ago_

_I’ve said all I can say, and yet I must be sure you know..._

Looking up at his surprised face, I quickly stepped back. Renge's interfering words came to mind as I watched the look of surprise turn to a smile. I knew Kyoya much better than most, so I could tell that this was one the few times that it was real. So when he held out his hand to me again, I took it without even thinking about it.

_That I love, love, love you_

_I need, need, need you_

_I long, long, long to hold you in my arms again_

Dancing with Kyoya Otori... Who would have thought?  _If I'd had any idea something like this would happen, I wouldn't... No, I think I wouldn't have minded._  It's kinda funny how things change like that. If not for that arrangement between my father and Kyoya's, all of this and every up until now would never have happened.

Thinking about that now, I was reminded of the something I'd like to forget about. I had made a new arrangement with Mr Otori; one that meant I would be marrying one of his three sons. Of course, getting close to Kyoya could be good for that; assuming that it would be Kyoya that is chosen. But what if it wouldn't be... that's a scary thought. This was why I had been avoiding him until now.

“Rin?” Kyoya's voice sounded concerned as I brought my focus back to what was going on. “You seem troubled.”

I looked up at him, feeling a bit nervous. Kyoya had no idea what was going on. “It's nothing... I... I'll tell you about it later...”

He let it go and tried to maintain a smile. I didn't really want to tell him yet, but it was too obvious that something was troubling me. And with all Kyoya knew, he would likely make the connection that it had to do with why I was avoiding him.

_I'm so, so sad to..._

_Ever hurt, hurt, hurt you..._

_And I’m more afraid of losing you than anything before_

_Please can I have one more..._

_Hello?_

“Meet me outside in a bit,” I told Kyoya as the music ended. We were now free from our forced dance. With a slight bow, we went our separate ways. I watched as he disappeared among the crowd.

The crowd seemed displeased about this; they probably were hoping to see a kiss or some spectacular confession of undying love or some other romantic thing that I was hoping wouldn't happen. Me? I was glad it was over and anxious about what I was going to say to him. The arrangement was kept secret from him because of  _my_ choice. How could I tell him? Could I really tell him that even if I felt something for him, I could still end up married to his brother?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is 'Hello Beautiful' by Vic Mignogna.


	18. I Don't Care

“It's such a nice night...” I said to myself as I looked up at the stars. “The full moon is always so beautiful...”

“Just like you are,” a voice added. I'd thought I was alone, but I guess I'd been wrong.

As sweet as his words were, I'd rather not have heard them. “The moon will always be the most beautiful.” I didn't want to believe that I could feel anything for him. Not until I knew for sure if he was the one who would be chosen. Sure, he was obviously the most likely one, but that didn't mean anything.

“Rin... what is it that is troubling you?” Kyoya asked as he stood there next to me. I avoided looking at him except out of the corner of my eye, and he appeared to be doing the same.

“Did your father tell you anything about the agreement we'd made?” Better to hurry up and get this over with. Kyoya was quiet a moment before confirming that he knew nothing. “We agreed that after I'd graduated, I would marry one of his three sons. By making that agreement, your father started that the debt would be considered paid.”

Kyoya didn't say anything. Must have been thinking the situation over. It was a lot to take in at once. He could possibly be stuck in an arranged marriage without even knowing about it. “Which of us was chosen?”

“I don't know.” That only seemed to confuse him. It only made sense though, I probably should have known that much.

“Why don't you know?”

My next words had to be worded very carefully. Say the wrong thing and there could be trouble. “I chose to leave that decision with your father. It felt wrong to choose one of you over the others. This way, the blame for any problems wouldn't be on me.”

“So it could be any of my brothers or myself?” It was more like a statement than a question. He glanced over at me briefly before looking out ahead of us.

“That's what is bothering me.”

He thought a moment before speaking again. “Logically, I would be the best candidate.”

“True. But even if I let myself love you, there's a chance that I could still end up with your brother.”

That was when he finally turned towards me. “Do you have feelings for me?”

I froze. Did I? Until now, I'd denied feeling anything towards Kyoya. But was I just lying to myself, hoping that if I kept saying it that it would make make it the truth? After quickly thinking about everything that happened, the answer was quite obvious. My unquestioning faith I'd had in Kyoya... The way I'd never been angry at him for anything even when I was afraid of him... It all added up to one thing. “Yes.”

“So be mine,” Kyoya said, taking my hands in his own.

 _You say it as if it's that simple..._ I turned my eyes away from him. “Kyoya... I... What if it's your brother who's chosen and not you?” There were no guarantees that he'd be the one. If he wasn't going to be, then it would be better to not even try. Better safe than sorry. That's what I usually say, but is it really true for this situation?

“I don't care.” Normally that would be considered such a heartless thing to say, but right now I couldn't help but smile. Maybe it really didn't matter at all.

Before I had a chance to say anything at all, I was pulled into his arms. This was just like before, but this time I was happy to go along with it.

 

_(Renge's POV)_

As I watched Kyoya kiss Rin, I couldn't hold back a smile. “I totally knew she liked him,” I said cheerfully as I turned around. I found myself face to face with one of my classmates. “Hey Toshiro!”

“Um... would you like to dance with me, Renge?”

 _Those two totally belong together!_ I thought to myself as I walked away with my blonde haired friend.


End file.
